An Ohio mom who was removed from her position as a Cub Scout den leader because she’s gay didn’t
go quietly.

Jennifer Tyrrell went to her computer, started an online petition on Change.org and told herself
she’d be thrilled if a few dozen supporters signed on.

That was a little more than a week ago. As of yesterday evening, the number of supporters had
passed 180,000, and Tyrrell, who had never before been on a plane, had flown to both Los Angeles
and New York City. She and her family have been honored by gay-rights organizations, interviewed by
TheNew York Times and featured on national television. The outpouring is giving a fresh
airing to an old Boy Scouts policy that many Americans didn’t realize was still in place, said Mike
Jones of Change.org.

Other major youth-focused organizations, such as the Girl Scouts, 4-H Clubs and Boys and Girls
Clubs of America, don’t make an issue of sexual orientation.

The Boy Scouts of America, however, has refused to budge on its ban, and the U.S. Supreme Court
sided with the organization in 2000. The court said the Scouts have a constitutional right of free
association that allows them to bar gays from leadership positions.

“Since that ruling 12 years ago, there have been grumblings but nothing close to the power of
Jennifer’s story,” Jones said. “It’s really highlighted the division between the people on the
ground in communities like Jennifer’s and the national leadership.”

Jones said the Boy Scouts of America has refused to meet with Tyrrell, 32, who lives with her
partner and their four children in a rural area near Bridgeport, in eastern Ohio. The organization
said in a statement that it focuses on character development and leadership training. Scouting is
not the right forum for children to become aware of the issue of sexual orientation, the Boy Scouts
said.

Tyrrell said it’s her dismissal that has made children aware. “Parents have had to have this
conversation with their kids because the Boy Scouts forced them,” she said.

Jennifer Koma, spokeswoman for the Simon Kenton Council, Boy Scouts of America, said no central
Ohio leaders have been removed recently because of sexual orientation. Koma also said in an email
that the council doesn’t “proactively ask about the sexual orientation” of volunteers.

Tyrrell said local Scout leaders knew she was gay because she told them before accepting the den
leader position, which she was recruited to fill nearly a year ago, she said. “I brought it to
their attention that night.”

She said the dismissal call came after she accepted treasurer duties and raised questions about
some accounting discrepancies. Tyrrell said she has no idea whether she uncovered a mistake or a
problem. “I don’t want to make any assumptions,” she said, but she soon was removed on grounds that
she’s gay.

Tyrrell said her 7-year-old son, Cruz, misses all the fun they had camping, doing service
projects and building bird houses. “He’s a little sad because he’s always considered himself a
Scout.”

Tyrrell still has the 12 core values of scouting loaded onto her cellphone.

She believes in the ideals — especially the parts about respect and compassion — and says she
did her best to convey them in kid-friendly ways to the boys of Cub Scout Pack 109 of the Ohio
River Valley Council.